Given the economy's size and complexity, our problems cannot be solved by tinkering around the edges. Instead, a total revamp is necessary, one that both grows the middle class while reining in the runaway excess of the business class.

It is a national disgrace that so many poor children live in the United States of America -- the world's richest economy. It doesn't have to be this way. It's costly. And it's the greatest threat to our future national, economic and military security.

At the end of every year, platoons of food professionals -- consultants, chefs, writers and research firms -- race to predict the trends that will influence foodies all over America and ergo the world.

The House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence just publicly released its report, which systematically knocks down pretty much every paranoid theory over the tragedy which happened in Benghazi, Libya and what happened immediately afterwards.

Is a "billionaire's club" conspiring to help the environment? A new report by the Senate minority's Environment and Public Works committee called "The Chain of Environmental Command: How a Club of billionaires and Their Foundations Control the Environmental Movement and Obama's EPA" says yes.

Since 2010, a landfill fire has been moving toward 8,700 tons of unlined illegally dumped radioactive waste in Bridgeton, Missouri. The site is in the middle of working-class neighborhoods, right next to the Saint Louis airport, and near a hospital, schools and a great number of businesses.

As the British Foreign Secretary said today, "The longer we delay, the higher the risks and the greater the costs to present and future generations." That's why the UK has committed to reducing its carbon emissions by 80 percent by 2050.

Kids spend the vast majority of their waking life at school and the food they encounter there does matter. It matters on a purely nutritional level, of course, but it also matters on an educational level.

You don't have to read the 59-page congressional report on the Transportation Security Administration's shortcomings, released on the 11th anniversary of 9/11, to conclude the agency has "become its own worst enemy." Just pay attention to the news.

City Hall refuses to release a report on the effectiveness of New York's revamped emergency response system. The firefighters union says the city is cooking the books when it comes to calculating response time.

In anointing themselves the champions of "family values" and protectors of vulnerable children, religious conservatives have had little to say when confronted with the undeniable existence of actual gay families -- particularly kids with LGBT parents.

A committee commissioned by the Institute of Medicine just released its report on front-of-pack nutrition guidance. The recommendations are good in that they may help prevent the food industry from doing bad. The recommendations are bad if they forestall the implementation of superior approaches. And the recommendations are downright ugly if...

As we take stock of the current state of America's children and the desperate need to change direction for the future, some ancient wisdom can give us a blueprint for setting sail and getting our children to safe harbor.

As the president and Congress struggle to find a way to lower the budget deficit and to raise the debt ceiling before we default on our debt for the first time in history, I hope they will stay away from further cuts in essential food, health, education, and other supports children need.